97poems/scentofspring

SCENT OF SPRING

Just as I am returning
home from my walk,
I catch the scent
of a childhood spring.

I can only trace it
to a privet, which
I don’t think
we ever had.

In these cool mornings
the new air lingers
longer into the day.
It gives the body
more time
to remember
what was essential
in spring,
though summer,
in theory,
has come.

6/27/97